Street voices
Hugues
·
United States
"Everyone and their mother. A hyperbolic way of saying everyone. Dude, you're not going to believe this. The Americans just landed on the moon. Hey, newsflash. Everyone and their mother watched it happen on TV. We already know it."
What it means
A big, everyday exaggeration for basically everyone. You drop it when a place is packed, a trend's gone fully mainstream, or news is so old literally everybody already heard it. It can sound annoyed, amused, or a bit both, depending on how you throw it.
Usage examples
"I tried to get brunch at 11 and everyone and their mother was in line, so we grabbed gas station snacks and called it fancy."
"I thought a Tuesday matinee would be quiet, but everyone and their mother had the same idea and the popcorn line wrapped around the lobby."
"By the time we got to the thrift sale, everyone and their mother had already picked the good jackets clean."
"Don't bother acting mysterious about the breakup, everyone and their mother saw you unfollow each other by lunch."
"We bailed on the flea market by noon because everyone and their mother was there pawing through the vintage tees."
Where it comes from
A homely exaggeration built on the idea that a crowd is so big even people's mothers turned up. American English stacked the family detail on top of plain everyone to make the throng feel even larger.
Editors of this term
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